1. Occupational pesticide exposure and subclinical hypothyroidism among male pesticide applicators.
- Author
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Lerro CC, Beane Freeman LE, DellaValle CT, Kibriya MG, Aschebrook-Kilfoy B, Jasmine F, Koutros S, Parks CG, Sandler DP, Alavanja MCR, Hofmann JN, and Ward MH
- Subjects
- Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Autoantibodies blood, Humans, Hypothyroidism blood, Iowa epidemiology, Logistic Models, Male, Middle Aged, North Carolina epidemiology, Prevalence, Thyrotropin immunology, Thyroxine immunology, Triiodothyronine immunology, Agricultural Workers' Diseases etiology, Hypothyroidism chemically induced, Hypothyroidism epidemiology, Occupational Exposure adverse effects, Pesticides adverse effects
- Abstract
Objectives: Animal studies suggest that exposure to pesticides may alter thyroid function; however, few epidemiologic studies have examined this association. We evaluated the relationship between individual pesticides and thyroid function in 679 men enrolled in a substudy of the Agricultural Health Study, a cohort of licensed pesticide applicators., Methods: Self-reported lifetime pesticide use was obtained at cohort enrolment (1993-1997). Intensity-weighted lifetime days were computed for 33 pesticides, which adjusts cumulative days of pesticide use for factors that modify exposure (eg, use of personal protective equipment). Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), thyroxine (T4), triiodothyronine (T3) and antithyroid peroxidase (anti-TPO) autoantibodies were measured in serum collected in 2010-2013. We used multivariate logistic regression to estimate ORs and 95% CIs for subclinical hypothyroidism (TSH >4.5 mIU/L) compared with normal TSH (0.4- < 4.5 mIU/L) and for anti-TPO positivity. We also examined pesticide associations with TSH, T4 and T3 in multivariate linear regression models., Results: Higher exposure to the insecticide aldrin (third and fourth quartiles of intensity-weighted days vs no exposure) was positively associated with subclinical hypothyroidism (OR
Q3 =4.15, 95% CI 1.56 to 11.01, ORQ4 =4.76, 95% CI 1.53 to 14.82, ptrend <0.01), higher TSH (ptrend =0.01) and lower T4 (ptrend =0.04). Higher exposure to the herbicide pendimethalin was associated with subclinical hypothyroidism (fourth quartile vs no exposure: ORQ4 =2.78, 95% CI 1.30 to 5.95, ptrend =0.02), higher TSH (ptrend =0.04) and anti-TPO positivity (ptrend =0.01). The fumigant methyl bromide was inversely associated with TSH (ptrend =0.02) and positively associated with T4 (ptrend =0.01)., Conclusions: Our results suggest that long-term exposure to aldrin, pendimethalin and methyl bromide may alter thyroid function among male pesticide applicators., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.)- Published
- 2018
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